If you couldn't make it to Google I/O, and thus couldn't get one of the first Android TV units as part of the developer swag, you can still start developing your apps for the platform's retail debut later in 2014. Google has included Android TV modules in the official Android SDK, underneath the Android L (API 20) package. That includes an emulator specifically for TV, so you should be able to build and test apps without any extra hardware. There was a similar emulator for Google TV.

That being said, an emulator usually isn't an ideal solution, since it will almost certainly be slower than the ADT-1 developer hardware. Considering the higher demands of the media-heavy apps that Android TV will feature, that could be a big hurdle for developers. The more processor power and RAM available on your development machine, the better off you'll be, but there's no avoiding the performance hit inherent in emulation. It will also be difficult to simulate the input of the controller included with the ADT-1.

Developers should be able to modify existing apps to run on Android TV, but depending on your needs, it may be simpler just to start from scratch. To set up the emulator, head to this page, download the latest version of the Android SDK, and follow the setup instructions.

Michael is a native Texan and a former graphic designer. He's been covering technology in general and Android in particular since 2011. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.

the Chromecast support is amazing there is no internal wifi requirement anymore

Franco Rossel

Yes, full Cast support.

Gonçalo Santos

Is a there a stable release? so i can flash android TV on any android box, and play it trough HDMI? and does it recognize the optical channels? this gonna replace my non smart TV Interface =D

Ambroos

Stable release? Dude, we're talking previews here, the stuff was just announced. Wait half a year and you'll probably be able to buy an Android TV box from Sony.

Peter Oliver

Not even close.

dhdhdhdhd

Does it support 4k?

_artem_

sorry for offtop but wth new tab has AP favicon for me?

http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

We're taking over.

NF

The Google TV emulator only existed for Linux as some sort of add on. One couldn't simply run it in an emulator. So this is good progress. Though performance may be poor, at least it gives me the ability to test function and design, which is really important.

supremekizzle

I hope the hardware that comes from third parties is better than Google's. No hdmi passthrough and one usb port?

Gus70

I second this HDMI pass through is very important for me.

tmack8001

you guys understand that the ADT-1 isn't a consumer device... it is meant to give developers (game, content, etc) something physical to run and test their devices on.

yeshu

Android TV was part of the developer swag? What else was given away in addition to this and the watches?

tmack8001

Yes the ADT-1 (https://developer.android.com/preview/tv/adt-1/index.html) was handed out to developers that went to the Android TV specific session. Not to everyone at the conference, though IMHO would have been a better move as the consumer market I think is larger in the living room media box market than in the wearables market (at least right now).

TedPhillips

so, i won't have a chance to futz with the emulator for some time.

i'm guessing this is just for app development/layout usage, and doesn't have the drm stack. (so testing things like live tv are out) I mean, the level one widevine is hardware backed.

Zimmerman

How's this different from Google TV? Weren't devs able to makes apps for that??

http://socialwrapper.com VidiMan

Google TV was very selective and different from stock Android (one of the reasons it failed). The UI was designed for the 10 foot view (not phone, tablet). Your app had to be especially coded for the Google TV platform, a very small subset (Honeycomb if I recall).